Hair Recycling Technologies

Garden Products Recycling Business Plan

Executive Summary

Hair Recycling Technologies' (HRT) area of business will be to: collect, sanitize, and market human hair to be used as a consumer good. Our recycled hair products will be targeted toward the home gardener who will benefit from hair's numerous elemental characteristics and its strong human scent.

Hair Recycling Technologies is entering a niche market since human hair has never been marketed before to be used in this manner. The founders of the business believe this to be a unique and viable concept that reaches an untapped and high growth market. Due to these factors, this venture has exciting possibilities due to its high potential and unique, innovative nature.

One of the most attractive aspects of this business is that investors will be paid back within one year and the company will still maintain a positive cash position. The business is expected to break-even in month nine of the first year.

Our in-depth research pertaining to human hair's positive elemental characteristics and its many potential uses is well advanced. Even though this research will be an ongoing process for the company, initial results have been shown to be positive.

The Horticulture Department at the University of Georgia has shown interest in this concept and HRT plans to work with the department to research and test the use of human hair as a plant growth promoter. In addition, nurseries in the South Bend market have shown strong interest in carrying our product upon its release.

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1.1 Keys to Success

Hair clippings have long been a useless waste problem for businesses engaged in the operation of barber shops and beauty salons. In metropolitan areas that handle large amounts of waste, human hair is often disposed in volume at municipal landfills. Driven by state and federal mandates, recycling and composting of municipal solid waste have increased dramatically during the past decade. There were more than 9,000 curbside recycling programs in America in 1997, and 12,000 drop-off centers for recyclable material. The EPA established a target-recycling goal of 35 percent by the year 2005, while maintaining the per capita generation of solid waste at 4.3 pounds per person per day. This presents an opportunity to recycle a landfill bound waste and give the consumer the opportunity to benefit from the many positive properties that hair can provide.

Our research has shown that clippings of human hair contain an extremely high nutrient value which, when utilized and mixed with potting soil, will produce a higher quality plant food and soil enhancer than what is currently on the market.

Human hair, in common with wool, silk, and other organic materials, has a very high nitrogen content, and in the soil, nitrogen encourages tissue growth. If the sweepings from a barber shop were regularly applied to a compost heap, an enormous amount of nitrogen could be recovered. Six to seven pounds of human hair contain approximately one pound of nitrogen, as much as found in 100 to 200 pounds of manure. What's more, hair will disintegrate as easily as feathers, as long as it is kept in a well-moistened compost heap.

Experiments with 32 varieties of roses by William Stafford, of Austin Texas, indicate that human hair used around the roots of bushes produces longer stems, larger buds, and deeper color tones. Stafford experimented with hair at the base of plants and found it accelerated growth, though slowly, since it took many months for the hair to decay. Stafford produced a plant recipe for his experiments, which HRT will reproduce. No patents are registered for Stafford's rose food recipe.

1.2 Mission

Hair Recycling Technologies intends to provide the consumer with a recyclable resource so that they may benefit from human hair's many properties and organic elements. In addition, we hope to give the consumer a positive feeling about recycling and the Earth's environment.

1.3 Objectives

The concept of recycling human hair to be used as a plant food, soil enhancer, and animal deterrent is unique and innovative to the plant and gardening industry. We feel that introducing this product to the marketplace will be successful due to its unique factor and the many positive characteristics that human hair can provide to the gardener. The consumer will find this to be a compelling product not only because it is organic, and thus in growing demand, but also due to its marketable benefits.